The IFEAT 2024 Italy Study Tour

21st to 27th January 2024

Calabria and Sicily

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

IFEAT is pleased to announce its 14th Study Tour to take place in southern Italy from 21st to 27th January 2024 (IST 24), visiting Calabria and Sicily. Over the past decade IFEAT’s Study Tours (STs) have proved to be a great educational experience for the 40 to 50 participants, invariably from over 20 countries.

IFEAT’s recent STs to South Africa and Spain in November 2022 and February 2023 respectively were a great success and more than achieved their objectives. Participation in the IST 24 will be limited to 40 participants, so IFEAT Members are advised to book early, as previous Study Tours were extremely popular and sold out quickly.

Registration will be limited initially to one person per IFEAT Member company.  Register quickly to avoid disappointment.

STUDY TOUR OBJECTIVES

The Study Tour to Italy in 2024 has several objectives:

• To gain knowledge of production and processing of citrus – bergamot, clementine, lemon, mandarin, and blood orange – in the major Italian growing regions of Calabria and Sicily.
• To view field cropping, packing and modern distillation plants.
• To learn about the technical advances being made in the distillation and analysing of essential oils and their constituents.
• The growing importance of organic essential oils, their certification and traceability.
• Provide an opportunity for delegates to meet with Italian producers, processors, and exporters. Italy is a major producer and exporter of citrus oils.
• Learn about Italy’s rich history and heritage.
• Allow delegates to meet with other F&F industry professionals, invariably from over 20 countries and a range of occupations.
• To achieve all of this over a period of one week.

WHY ITALY IN JANUARY?

The timing of the tour has been selected to match the harvesting and processing of some of the major aromatic botanicals of Italy. These include lemon, orange, mandarin, clementine, and bergamot. We shall visit several growing areas.

MAP AND ITINERARY

The map below shows the areas of Calabria and Sicily we are visiting.

The itinerary below the map provides a summary of the places and operations that we will visit during this Tour.

To facilitate visits to orchards and processing operations, delegates may be divided into smaller groups.

There are two airports for delegates arriving and departing from outside the region:

• Start of the IST 24 – Reggio Calabria Airport, (REG) Calabria. Delegates are likely to have to fly into REG from another Italian airport, including Milan and Rome. The distance from REG Airport to the hotel is 8 km.
• Departures at end of IST 24 – Palermo Airport (PMO) also known as Falcone-Borsellino, located 35 km from Palermo. The airport has many national and international flights.

Transfers to and from the arrival and departure hotels can be arranged but are not included in the cost. Information will be provided on transport options and approximate costs as well as information on delegate arrival flights and times to facilitate sharing travel arrangements.

TOUR COSTS AND BOOKING

The cost of the Tour is 3,800 Euros per person.

This includes six nights’ single room accommodation in quality hotels; all programme meals, receptions, and transportation on the six days of field trips, but not airport transfers. IFEAT is not responsible for the cost and booking of flights/travel to and from Lamezia Terme Airport in Calabria or from Palermo Airport in Sicily. This is the responsibility of the individual delegate.

QUALIFICATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS ON PARTICIPATION

Initially participation is restricted to personnel from IFEAT Member companies and initially only one person per Member company will be permitted to attend. To qualify, it is necessary that the Member company has paid its annual membership subscription to date including that current at the time of application for a place on the tour and at the date of the Tour. Delegates must be at least 21 years old at the time of registering. No accompanying persons are permitted. Bookings will be accepted by IFEAT on a first come, first served basis. Delegates will only be registered for the Tour once full payment has been received by IFEAT.

Please read the full terms and conditions here